Philip J Fry: Delivery boy, Loverboy, Merboy?
by Draconius du Vryle
Summary: Leela rejects Fry for the last time, and it sends him over the edge. He tries to end it all, but Umbriel saves him and grants him a special gift and the promise of never feeling lonely again. When the gang finds out, will Leela admit her true feelings?R
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Futurama, any of the characters, nor the brilliant mind of Matt Groening. I do not make any money from this: Entertainment only._

Summary: Fry is rejected by Leela for the last time, and to make matters worse he loses his job. He goes over the edge, literally, and tries to end it all. Howeve he is saved by his mermaid friend and she grants him a special gift and the promise of never having tio feel lonely again. The gang feels remorse for their hasty decision, and try to find him but he's gone. When they finally meet up again, how will they all react? Will Leela and Fry finally get together? Or will a beautiful mermaid with a siren's seductive voice win Fry over forever? **I am planning on making a sequel to this story, but I would like my readers opinions on which direction to go in. Please vote and give me your honest opinions. Also, don't forget to review. They are precious, desired and appreciated, Thank you, all.**

_Pairings: FryxUmbriel_

_(maybe) FryxLeela_

* * *

"OUT! OUT! OUT!" The purple-haired Cyclops screamed.

Once again, Philip J. Fry from New York of 1999 had been thrown out into the street. He had professed his love for the only woman he had ever truly vied for, and she had taken his heart, thrown in onto the ground, and stomped on it like it was garbage. Fry looked back at the doorway that offered the only glimmer of light into the night and he stammered,

"B…. but, Leela…I lo…."

(SLAM!)

His last hope disappeared within that door, and the last look that he would ever behold on his beautiful Cyclopes' face was one of pure hatred. Oh he had done it now. He made the biggest mistake of his life: trying to propose to his ladylove. He had done everything right: the romantic dinner to Elzar's Restaurant, the candlelit background which provided the mood lighting, and the gorgeous holophoner song he had written just for her. He had gotten down on one knee and pulled out the gold ring with the small, yet dazzling, diamond set into a beautiful pattern and he had been rejected like yesterday's garbage. He was now walking down the narrow alley, staring at the ring in the small velvet box. He sighed, closed the box and placed it in his jacket pocket. He could only be thankful that rain had begun to fall which masked the tears falling down in face. He walked past Planet Express, but didn't stop. He thought to himself,

"_I can't go back to work. As soon as the Professor finds out, I'm as good as jobless. What am I going to do?_"

He somehow made his way back to the Robot Arms Apartments and made his way up to the room that he and his roommate shared. At first glance, the space seemed no bigger than a broom closet, but then opening the door in the back revealed a hidden space that was utterly monstrous. But it was messy. Fry walked into the space and waded through the empty Slurm cans, the discarded robot porn magazines, and other general debris. He reached the space that served as his sleeping area, took off his signature red jacket and flopped on his bed that resounded in a loud metal 'clang' and a yelp of pain from the distraught redhead.

"BENDER!"

"Whaddayawant, meat bag?"

"Go sleep in your own space! I've had a rough night."

"Ooooo, I'm Fry; I have emotions, nyah nyah nyah."

"BENDER!"

"All right, all right! I'm going! Yeesh, what's a robot got to do to get a little privacy around here?"

The smart-mouthed robot emerged from the bed wearing, for some reason, a pair of blue and white striped pajama bottoms but before he left Fry alone he turned around gave him a nasty look and said,

"Oh, by the way Fry: bite my shiny metal ass."

Fry picked up an empty can and threw it at Bender who retreated with a yelp and some very audible mutterings about 'death to all humans'. Finally Fry was able to lie down, but sleep did not come to him that night. He tossed and turned thinking about the way that Leela had rejected him again, and he made up his mind. He simply would not do it anymore. He was tired of having his heart stepped on and tossed around. He tried to think back to the happy times; all the adventures that they had gone on together, but it brought little comfort. The next morning he reluctantly pulled himself out of bed, and showered. He went to the kitchen to have some breakfast, but Bender had taken the liberty of doing it for him.

"_Great. Just _Fantastic_. If I'm not gonna die of heartbreak, whatever Bender made will definitely kill me_," Fry thought to himself.

Bender emerged from the kitchen stirring something in a bowl that was a putrid shade of purple, and said,

"Hey listen, man, I wanted to make last night up to you so I'm making pancakes!"

"Oh. T…. that's great, Bender. Thanks."

"I don't understand why you fleshwads gotta eat anyways. Stupid humans."

Bender disappeared cheerily back into the kitchen and Fry turned a quick shade of white which contrasted starkly with his hair. Then he quickly got up, grabbed his jacket, and ran out the door, not even bothering to dress. Bender took just that moment to come back out from the kitchen holding a platter of purple cakes drenched with some kind of viscous, snotty chartreuse substance that was quickly turning the color of poo. Bender yelled after him,

"Hey Fry! You forgot your pancakes! I made them just for you!"

"I'm not really hungry right now, Bender. I…. I'll see you at work."

"But, Fry…."

It was all Bender got out before the door was shut. Fry vacated the area as quickly as possible breathing a sigh of relief, but it came too soon. He passed under the window that was on the kitchen side of his apartment, and he was splattered with nasty purple pancakes and that, now mostly brown, viscous substance. As he spluttered and tried to shake himself free of the nasty goo, he heard a mocking voice above him laughing and pointing out the window. Fry shouted at his roommate,

"I'll get you for this, you…. you…stupid metal…urg…Person!"

"Bite my shiny metal ass, and enjoy your pancakes!"

The maniacal, mechanical face disappeared leaving Fry alone, once again. He trudged his way to work, dressed in his jacket and pajamas, and messy from the remains of Bender's 'cooking' which had begun to harden into a type of crunchy cocoon. As he walked in the door, Beaurocrat Grade level 36 Hermes Conrad met him with an official looking document.

"Hold it right there, mon. We got some business to discuss."

"Oh, Hermes can't I at least shower first? I'm can't really move."

"Out of da question. Now den, I was informed by our staaship coptain dat you attempted to perform item 2202345 B item 25 subsection 110 without proper beaurocratic approval. Is dis true?"

"I tried to perform item…. what now?"

"You tried to ask her to marry you widout signing and filing de proper papers, she voided your request, and now you expect dat you can just waltz in here like no' ting happened? Oh, no mon."

"Okay, so what do I have to do?"

"You can get out of here, and take your 'tings wid you, mon. You are no longer an employee of Planet Express. 'old out your hand."

Fry looked dejectedly at the ground and dutifully did as he was asked. A sharp stab of pain, a quick drop of blood, and his career chip was out of his hand like a flash. Hermes walked back inside leaving poor Fry out and alone once again. He truly had nowhere that he could go now. His best friend had dumped garbage on him, he was sticky and messy, his one true love had rejected him for the last time, he'd just lost his dead-end job, and to top it all off, he was still in his pajamas; in public. What a way to start your day. So he walked. He walked until he got to a transportation tube, and he requested to go to New New York Harbor to Liberty Island. Maybe there he could find a place to rest his troubled mind. As the tube rocketed him along to his location, the joy that he usually felt that came from the feeling of flying was just not there. He landed on the balcony that the greenish tube had let him out at and looked out at Lady Liberty who had somehow made it through the last 1000 years. Her torch still glowed with the promise of freedom, but all Fry really wanted was freedom from his life. He was sick of it. Never more in his life had he felt more alone in this world. He began to feel his feet and legs creep slowly upward until he stood on the precipice of the railing. He looked up to the sky and cried,

"GOOD BYE, CRUEL WORLD!"

and he flung himself from the railing to the waiting waves below. It was not to be. As soon as his body hit the water, he was knocked unconscious, but strong arms grasped him and carried him back above the waters surface and swam away with him. Fry awoke to the raucous sound of seagulls and the gentle thunder of the waves on a beach. He sat up and looked around him, but he didn't recognize the surroundings. He thought to himself,

"_Is this heaven? It must be, but where are all the angels_?"

Then he cried out,

"Hello? God? Saint Peter? Anyone? Hello?"

"Why hello there, sleepyhead."

Fry gasped at the sound of the voice and looked in the direction it came from. Who he saw filled him with more delight and joy then he had felt that day. He ran to the figure and hurriedly embraced her with the passion of a long-lost friend.

"Oh, Umbriel! I'm so happy to see you!"

"Well, I'm happy to see you too sugar, but I have to know…. why in the name of Atlanta's Airport would you try to kill yourself?"

Fry released her from his embrace, stared at her for a second and sat up on a rock. He put his face in his hands and explained what had happened that had driven him to the point of near self-destruction. The mermaid put her arms gently on his shoulders letting him know that someone was there for him. She picked up the red jacket that had somehow stayed with them during their swim and she gently said to him,

"There, there darlin'. It wasn't right of them all to treat you like that; even your own family throwing you to the lionfish. Mm-mm, if anyone in Atlanta did that, they'd be outcast for the rest of their natural life. Family don't treat family like that."

"I know. I feel so...wait a sec…what were you doing in the New New York harbor in the first place?"

"Oh, well I'm on a bit of a vacation. Ya see, I wanted to see more of the world, and so my daddy told me that he too felt it was high time I saw some of the sights the ocean has to offer. So I packed up a few of my things and I took one of the chariots to see what's out there. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I suppose."

"Oh. Sounds exciting."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not nearly as exciting as what's on land. But then again, after hearing what they done to you I guess I'm happier livin' where I am."

"Wish I could go with you. There's nothing left for me up there."

"Well, darlin' you can if you want to."

"Whaddoyamean?"

"I mean, silly, that I still need a proper escort for my trip and none of the other merboys were respectable or responsible enough, and not all that nonsense about mermaid magic is all nonsense."

Fry just stared stupidly at her. Umbriel sighed and explained further,

"Darlin', if ya'll want to come with me, just make a wish on this."

She gave him a gigantic pearl the size of a soccer ball.

"What is this?"

"Oh, Mr. Fry I had forgotten how full of childlike wonder you are. Just hold it in your hands, like so, and say your wish."

"So I can wish for anything I want?"

"That's right, sugar. But there's only one wish there, so if you wanna come with me you gotta wish yourself to be a merman."

Fry thought about it, a miracle in and of itself. He considered the life he'd be giving up, and the family he'd be leaving behind…. and the woman he still had strong feelings for. Then he made up his mind; if Leela didn't think that he was good enough for her, then there was someone right in front of him who did; and he was going to take the chance. He looked at the glowing pearl and the gorgeous siren next to him. He said,

"I'll do it. Giant glowing, um, ball thing…. I wish to be a merman."

The pearl began to glow even more brightly and then it melted onto his legs covering them completely with an opaque shell. Suddenly, Fry felt pain like no other he had experienced before. He screamed as he felt the bones in his feet flatten and elongate, and his legs fuse together into a giant tube. His ankles were joined and his feet became far more flexible than any human foot ever should and when the process was finished he passed out from the pain. When he awoke, he was still lying on the beach, but sunset was approaching. He sat up rubbing his head and mused,

"Unnngh. What happened? I can't move my legs. Wait a second."

He looked down only to realize that his legs weren't there. They had been replaced by a long graceful fishtail which ended in a wide, semi-split fluke. It was coppery colored and glimmered in the sunset. He screamed at his new appearance and tried to stand up, only to fall flat on his face to which he was rewarded with a mouthful of sand. He heard giggling coming from behind him and he saw Umbriel in the water beckoning to him.

"I suppose that might take a little gettin' used to sugar, but if you'll just scooch your way over to me, I'll show you what needs to be done."

Fry put on his jacket and used his arms to try to the water but he tired quickly. But then, an urgent feeling: he felt like he had to get into the water or he would die. He was quickly drying out! He scooted along the loose sand as quickly as he could and made it so that his upper torso made it into the surf, and then his hips, and then, mercifully, the rest of him. He flapped his arms about in the water completely forgetting about the powerful fluke behind him, but he made it to Umbriel. She was a patient swimming coach and she showed him how to use his new appendage to the best of his ability. Within an hour, Philip J. Fry was swimming faster and more powerfully than he had he had ever before. Then Umbriel told him,

"Well, come on, darlin'. I'm bushed, let's tucker in for the night."

She dove under the waves expecting her friend to follow her, but when she looked up she saw that he was still treading water, so she made her way back to the surface and asked,

"What is it, hon?"

"I can't breathe underwater. You know that."

"Here, take my hand."

"Huh?"

"Just take my hand, and we'll go down together."

"No! NO! I can't breablblblblblblbl!"

She took him under the gentle lapping waves with her patient hands, and as soon as the panicked merman released the air from his lungs, and breathed in the brackish water, he found that he could filter oxygen from the water and use it. He **could** breathe! And even better: he could talk! He swam through the ocean shouting with all the abandon of a young boy, going faster and faster and faster, up, up, up until he broke through the surface of the ocean and cried,

"I'M KING OF THE SEAAAAAAAAAAAA! YEE-HAW!"

and he made a rather ungraceful ker-plunk back into the water, but Umbriel was enjpying her friend's passion for his newfound abilities. As soon as he reached her, Fry exclaimed,

"This is the best feeling in the world! I…I can swim; I can breathe underwater; I'm super fast; and I've got someone who cares about me for me! Not just what I can do or who I can be! I love you Umbriel!"

He embraced the mermaid and kissed her passionately, and after that kiss she replied,

"Oh, Fry…I love you too. Come on; let's go and see the ocean together."

"Oh, you got it babe. I never have to worry about anyone ever rejecting me again! This is the happiest day of my life!"

Return


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, back at Planet Express the rest of the crew showed up to work with no knowledge of what had transpired the day before. Professor Hubert Farnsworth walked in with a cheery announcement,

"Good news, everyone; we have a delivery to the planet of Mythos 3: a planet where the inhabitants are completely obsessed with mindless computer games like Land of Battle Strategies and dumb role playing card games like Yah-Gai-Um."

Bender asked,

"What are we deliverin'? A bunch of hookers?"

"Oh my, no. You'll be delivering these much-needed packs of Magic cards to them. Apparently, their Magic cards are the source of what keeps them sustained to play their games."

They loaded the large crate onto the ship and Amy Wong asked,

"Hey, where's Fry? Shouldn't he be here?"

Leela gave her a look of pure rage and said,

"Fry doesn't work here anymore and if any of you mention his name, I'll put my boot so far up your butt you'll be tasting rubber for supper!"

They all stepped back onto the ship terrified of their captain, and soon Leela stomped onto the ship as well and they took off for Mythos 3. They landed on the planet, unloaded the crate and strange people dressed in costumes that resembled monsters, aliens, and other creatures of otherworldly descent surrounded them. One of them dressed in a costume that resembled a poorly put together rendition of an Egyptian mummy stepped forward and said,

"Greetings. I am Achunman, receiver of gifts. What have you brought to us on your wondrous vessel that flies amongst the stars?"

Amy said,

"We brought you your Magic Cards."

Achunman got a look on his face that exuded pure joy and he shouted,

"The messengers from above have seen fit to send us our sustenance….and a woman! Oh, thank you, great and mighty Ramen!"

He took a horn from his belt and blew it. Soon everyone came running towards the helpless crew and swarmed them. Bender cried,

"Let's cheese it!"

Leela replied,

"No, wait! I need a signature from these guys!"

"Forget it, Leela! If we don't get out of here now we'll be overrun!"

She paused for a minute and surveyed the costumed mob that had quickly formed around the crate fighting over the most valuable card in the crate and for Amy's hand, hair, leg….whatever they could get ahold of.

"You're right, let's go!"

They took off, and after they were well away from the planet Amy retreated to a corner shaking and wrapping her arms around herself and stammering,

"N…n….n….ne….nerds. So many nerds; everywhere!"

"Amy?" said Bender.

"N…..ne…..nerds."

"Amy!"

"Huh?"

"Get ahold of yourself!"

"I….I….I can't! Just the thought of all those NERDS on me! Splech!"

"I don't think she's gonna be right in the head for a while, Leela."

"Hmm; maybe if she saw a doctor then she might feel better."

At the thought of the company 'doctor' Amy fell over on her side pulling her knees to her chest and refusing to move from that spot. She shouted,

"I'm not letting that…that….THING examine me!"

Leela replied,

"Calm down, Amy; he's not so bad. After all, Dr. Zoidberg is….well he's…..um…..you know what, how 'bout we take a vacation? I need to get my mind off things anyway."

"Oh you mean how Fry asked you to marry him yesterday, and you threw him out like yesterday's owl traps?"

Bender went into a fit of laughter at his own supposed 'joke,' Leela put the ship on auto pilot and, with a battle cry, delivered a well-aimed kick right a Bender's head. He yelped and ran away leaving Leela steaming in anger. She took her place back at the wheel and thought to herself,

"_Why did he do that last night? I knew he liked me, but I marriage? I just don't love him back like that. Don't I? NO! I hate his guts for asking me to marry him! It was inconsiderate, selfish, unrealistic and stupid! _Ugh I need a vacation_._"

"What's that Leela? You need a vacation? I thought we already established that we were going to take a vacation."

"Oh, did I say that out loud? I mean, yes. Yes we are going on vacation!"

In spite of all the excitement, a rousing cry went up through the crew. They had all been working hard lately and a vacation was just the thing that everyone needed. When they arrived back at the hanger, the Professor was fast asleep in his chair; his feet perched up on the conference table. The professor had a knack for half-paying attention to things except when it came to things like vacations so Leela was going to have to approach this one very carefully. She and the other members surrounded him and Leela said,

"Okay, be very careful when you wake him up. We don't want to scare him."

Bender rolled his eyes, waved her off with his hand and said

"Phhhft; I got this. Yo, Professor!"

"Eh, wha?"

"We wanna vacation! We're prepared to destroy the world if you say no!"

"A vacation you say? Oooo, splendid idea."

Everyone gasped and stood stock still.

"Really?" asked Leela.

"Oh my, yes. A vacation sounds like a marvelous idea. Just let me get Hermes, and we'll get the proper paperwork filled out."

The Professor promptly fell back asleep in his chair leaving everyone else with an annoyed look on their face. Bender said,

"Whelp, I'm goin' home. See you fleshwads later."

He left with a beer in his hand singing a tune,

'Bender's great,

Bender's awesome,

Bender's gonna kill all humans!'

It continued all the way until he got back to the apartment. When he got inside he called,

"Fry, I got you a beer! You want it? Fry?"

No answer. Bender went into his bedroom and saw a human-looking lump lying on the bed under the covers. He went over to it and said,

"Hey Fry; you just gonna sit there and wallow in your misery or are you gonna have some fun with me, Bender?"

No answer.

"Hey Fry, I'm talking to you."

Nothing.

"Well fine! If you wanna stay here and be miserable, suit yourself! I'm gonna go watch "All My Circuits," and have a rockin' party and you're missing out. So there!"

Bender left the room and went on binge. He invited all the neighbors, had an extraordinarily loud party, complete with gambling, and all the booze a robot could drink. He awoke the next morning to an even worse mess in the apartment. He went to Fry room laughing and said,

"Oh man! You missed a heck of a party last nigh. Hedonismbot and this hookerbot totally got it on and….Fry? FRY!"

Still no answer so Bender pulled back the covers and said,

"I'll teach you not to answer me you….."

He never finished the sentence because all that met Bender's eyes were pillows and bunched up sheets and blankets that Fry had left behind. Bender stammered for a second and then let out a scream that was heard all the way to Mars. In fact, Leo Wong heard it and said to his wife,

"You hear something, Inez?"

"Maybe it Amy, finally conceiving grandchild."

Back on earth, Bender ran right through doors of Planet Express, shattering them, and said,

"You guys! I went home last night, and I thought I saw Fry, but it wasn't Fry; it was just a bunch of sheets! He's gone and I don't know where he is."

Leela didn't even look up from the gizmo on her wrist that she was working on and said,

"Good. Maybe he'll stay gone."

Bender ran to her and said,

"Please, let's go look for him. I just want to find my best friend."

He broke down into crocodile tears and Leela rolled her eye, sighed and said,

"Oh, all right. We'll go look for Fry, but we'll do it after our vacation. I don't want to waste precious time looking for that fool."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Leela!"

Hermes Conrad walked in and said,

"Everybody quiet down."

Everyone stared at him. He cleared his throat and continued,

"All right, den. Now what I have here is a mandatory t'ree-day fishing license that I obtained while trying to file de paperwork for de funeral of me great uncle twice removed on me moder's side. I filed de wrong paperwork again, and we wound up wid one of 'dese….again. So 'dis means dat we will be takin' our vacation on a fishin' boat and we need to bring back at least 100 fish or one giant fish for dis to qualify as a tax exemption. So let's enjoy our fishing trip everybody."

Everyone groaned and Leela said,

"Fishing? Again? Last time we went fishing we met those merpeople in Atlanta and Fry tried to date one of 'em."

Bender, being the smart mouth that he was said

"Oh yeah, I remember that. He couldn't do her, so he dumped her!"

He laughed and puffed on his cigar. Leela said,

"All right people, if we have to go fishing we might as well make the best of it. Amy, pack our fishing gear."

"On it."

"Dr. Zoidberg, make sure that we have plenty of bait."

"Hmm? Bait you say? This could be an opportunity for Zoidberg."

He got a sneaky look on his face and eagerly rubbed his claws together while Leela said,

"Hermes can you please make sure that we have plenty of harpoons and dynamite? And sunscreen?"

Hermes left to go obtain the items that Leela had asked for. Within the hour they were ready, and the Professor said,

"All right, everyone. Be sure to get plenty of rest tonight. Eh, you're going to need it tomorrow."

The night passed quickly and the next morning came with the sun rising over the horizon to light up the skyscrapers and transportation tubes that made up New New York. The Planet Express crew began filing in one by one until all heads were accounted for. Then the Professor said,

"Are we all here? Good; let's start our voyage then."

The ship took off towards the bay, flew over Lady Liberty and soon came to rest on the vast blue sapphire of the Atlantic Ocean. Because of their last adventure, modifications had been made to the ship to ensure that it would be able to withstand being beneath the waves as well as on top of them; just in case of another emergency. Everybody began various activities of relaxation. Leela started throwing her harpoon into the water while Amy started sunbathing. She had Leela rub the sunscreen on her back this time. Dr. Zoidberg jumped off the ship and went for a 'scuttle' as he called it, Bender began fishing with an abnormally large hook that resembled the Professor's umbrella, and the Professor fell asleep as soon as he got outside and set up his chair. Hours later and no fish to brag at, the crew started to become restless. They still had another two days of this, and nobody was having any fun. As Leela tried to sleep that night, her thoughts turned to Fry with unanswered questions about him. Was he at least okay? Why did he disappear like that? Where was he? There were too many questions and she couldn't sleep, so she got up for a walk around the ship. One of the modifications that had been made to the ship was a few portals strong enough to withstand the pressure created from the vacuum inside the ship when it was flying in space, as well as the pressure of being underwater. She looked out of the portal of the partially submerged ship and a beautiful sight met her eyes: two dolphins frolicking in the water. Just playing with each other and having fun. Her thoughts returned to Fry again and she pondered,

"_Why did I reject his proposal that night so harshly? It was actually very sweet, but there is no chance in Robot Hell that I would ever say yes! Nope, he's not the right guy for me, but I know that someone out there is_."

She turned her back, but out of her peripheral vision she saw something flash by outside the portal! She quickly turned around and craned her neck to see what it was, but all she saw was what looked like a two HUGE fish swimming away. This could be it! This could be the thing that got them off this ridiculously boring trip and maybe go to Vegas. Leela went to the cockpit and started the ship. She said to herself,

"Oh, no you don't, you two. You're my ticket out of here."

The rumbling woke everyone and soon the entire crew found themselves in the cockpit. The Professor yawned and said,

"What's going on here? Leela, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to catch two humongous fish I saw through the portal. Hang on; I've got something on the sonar! Bender, go to the net drop; I'm gonna need your strength on this one."

"Oh, sure! Make the robot do the work; nyah nyah nyah!"

"BENDER"

"All right, all right I'm going! Yeesh!"

Sure enough two large blips appeared. They were moving swiftly, but the ship was easily able to keep up with them. No matter which way the blips turned the ship turned with them and when she had them on a straight course, Leela cried,

"NOW!"

That signal cued Bender to drop a large net on the….whatever it was that Leela had spotted and roll it up. Bender cranked with all his might. Leela, the Professor, Hermes, and Amy all encouraged him until finally their prize broke the surface. To their surprise the net was filled with fish! Lots of fish: mackerel, tuna, salmon, grouper; all kinds of species; then from the middle of the pile popped Fry head, which surprised everyone even more. Bender went to him and cried,

"Oh, Fry! Buddy! I thought I'd lost you forever!"

"You didn't lose me Bender. I'm right here."

"I know, but (sniff) I just couldn't bear the thought of losing you!"

They hugged hard and then Umbriel's head popped out of the pile. She seemed quite dizzy and said,

"Oh my stars….what happened?"

Everybody stared at her. Knowing what she was they were all surprised to see her on board the ship. With Fry, no less. Fry said,

"Everybody, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Umbriel…..again."

Leela got an exasperated look on her face and said,

"Fry, don't be stupid! She's a mermaid you're a human; you two can never be together."

Then Umbriel said,

"Fry, darlin', I am feelin' the need to get back in the water, hon. I don't feel right."

Fry held her and looked up at Leela and the crew, panicking, and said,

"Is there a tank or somethin' that you can put her in? She's not going to make it out of the water much longer."

Leela was defeated. She didn't want to help the distressed mermaid, but one look from Fry made her want to do anything to earn his forgiveness for the way she had treated him. She sighed and said,

"All right, Fry; I'll help you."

"Thank you, Leela"

"Zoidberg, Amy, Bender…get the tank ready, we've got an emergency here. It will also give us a place to store all the fish that we caught."

A makeshift tank was fashioned on the ship in the cargo hold, the tempered glass that made up the portals and plenty of extra steel beams which Bender bent into the appropriate shapes. Within no time it was finished, and Bender returned to the crank.

"Raising the net, Captain!"

"Excellent Bender. Now lower it gently."

"I know how to do it, Miss Bossy-Boots!"

"Bender; watch out! The rope is….."

The net went plummeting into the tank and all the dead fish either floated to the surface or sank to the bottom.

"Slipping."

When the debris of fish cleared, everyone got a good view of Umbriel and of Fry. When they saw his new body, every single one of them gasped in horror and surprise. They flew home rather quickly and got the both of them into a bigger, more suitable tank in the hanger. Umbriel was not doing well. She had a big bump on her head and it was causing her to feel unwell. That evening Fry let her rest because he saw Leela entering the hanger with a pissed off look on her face. He swam up to the surface and put his arms on the edge of the tank to hold him up. As soon as Leela approached him she scolded,

"What were you thinking, Fry! You just give up your life on the surface, and become a manfish? How is that even possible?"

Fry got angry.

"First of all, Leela, stop shouting at me. You've been shouting at me ever since I met you, and I'm tired of it. Second of all, I wished to be like this so I could be with someone who I know won't reject me a thousand times. I grew tired of all the rejection, Leela."

"So you become a freak of nature to avoid me?"

"I'm not a freak of nature!"

"Fry, everything about you is a freak of nature! Look at yourself: you don't have legs anymore, you can't even walk! Not only that, you have that weird brain-wave thing going on! Not a freak of nature? Yeah right."

"You see, Leela: this is what I'm talking about. This right here, you're not willing to accept me for who I am, but Umbriel is! She gave me the opportunity to be with her because she accepts me for who I am and not what I've accomplished or anything. If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to her because she's calling me and she needs me."

Fry descended back below the tank to his siren and Leela left in a huff feeling more hurt and more alone than she ever had.

* * *

This is my first crack at a Futurama story, so please review. I'm open to any constructive criticism that anyone might have. Thanks


	3. Chapter 3

As the evening passed, Umbriel's condition continued to improve, and Fry was her constant companion. He held her close to him, he gave her medicine that made the bump on her head go down, and he made her feel as comfortable as possible even the space they were in was small. From afar, Leela looked on at the couple and she thought back to when Fry had done the same for her when that giant space bee had stung her. What was this that she was feeling? Why did seeing the two of them together make her want to claw the mermaid's eyes out? As she watched them, the only thing that she could feel within the depths of her heart was hurt. She felt a tear well up in her eye, and it rolled down her cheek. Just then, Bender came in and said,

"Hey, One-Eye, I got a question for…. whoa! Are you cryin'?"

"(sniff) No."

"Sure looks like it. Wait! Are you still upset about Zapp Brannigan?"

Leela shot him a look that would have sent chills down any man's spine, but Bender ignored her and continued,

"I can call 'im for you, ya know. I've got him on speed dial."

"Why do you…. oh forget it. I'm not in the mood for you today Bender."

"Not in the mood? That's what you said after you slept with Zapp Brannigan! WHHHOOOOOO!"

Leela snarled, picked up a small remote hanging on the wall and pressed a green button on it, sending down the magnetic disk that was usually used for picking up metal objects too heavy to carry. The spherical disk attracted Bender to it like a moth to a flame, and Leela pressed the button to lift the giant magnet while Bender sang a rousing chorus of,

"_Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you _(I'll kill you Leela!)_ Never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie, and hurt you_! (DAMMIT LEELA!)"

He continued with the old ballad, and at the words of that old love song Leela ran out of the room crying even harder. Fry happened to see Leela running away as he was waking from a nap and he wondered what the commotion was about. He looked up and saw that Bender was attached to the magnet. Knowing what happened whenever Bender came into contact with a magnet he wondered,

"Hmm, how did he wind up there and I wonder what he's singing."

He flicked his coppery tail and rose to the surface. As soon as his head was free of the water and his sensitive ears heard that accursed song, he put his hands over his ears and shouted,

"STOP SINGING THAT SONG BENDER! I HATE THAT SONG!"

"_Never gonna give, never gonna give, never gonna give you up_ (Help me, Fry!)_Never gonna let you down._"

He dove back down under the water to escape the lyrics that had plagued him every time he looked for something fun on the Internet. Umbriel was still resting from her injury, but it just so happened that Dr. Zoidberg had decided to take a nap in a corner of the tank that they were in. Fry swam to him and said,

"Zoidberg?"

"Hmm? (snore)"

"ZOIDBERG!"

"Wha? Hey what's the big idea!"

"Oh good, you're up. I need a favor."

"Oh, so now Zoidberg holds the cards. Will I help you? Perhaps."

He made a gurgling sound in his throat while rubbing his mouth flaps together. Fry just ignored him and said,

"Can you please tell someone to let us go? We want to go back to the sea. Oh, and can you get Bender down from the ceiling? He's starting to get annoying….even underwater."

"Hmm, what should I do?" Zoidberg pondered.

"Zoidberg!"

"All right, already! I'm going, I'm going! Yeesh; can't even let Zoidberg have a little fun."

The Decapodian hoisted himself out of the tank and found the remote on the wall that Leela had used to lift the robot up there. He pressed the button that lowered the distraught robot to the floor, and then he deactivated the magnet. After sixteen choruses of Rick Astley's ballad, Bender was feeling quite drained. He managed to get out,

"I'm gonna kill that purple-haired, no-good…"

And he passed out and went into rest mode. Zoidberg left him where he lay and went to go find the Professor. He found him in his lab working on what appeared to be a new doomsday device and off to the side, an all too familiar simian corpse with a small dented hat and his chest cracked open to reveal a missing heart which was now in the Professor's hands. Zoidberg looked over the macabre scene and said,

"This is a bad time, perhaps?"

The Professor clambered to hide whatever he had been doing and rambled,

"I'm not doing anything that would even remotely constitute a doomsday device! Why would you even ask?"

"But Professor, I didn't…."

"Oh, poppycock! I forgot something. What do you want Amy?"

"I'm not Amy."

"Oh…Zoidberg, my friend. Eh, what happened to Amy?"

"Wha? No, Professor I need you."

"Oh! Then how can I help you?"

"Fry and the fish-woman; they want to be let go."

"The who, now?"

"Fry and the fish-girl from Atlanta: they want to go back to the ocean."

"WHAT? That moronic uncle of mine has really stepped in it this time. If he thinks he can just waltz out of here…. oh, wait. He can't; he doesn't have legs!"

The Professor went into a maniacal laugh, and after he was finished he said,

"Those two are more precious for me to just let go. Oh my, no. They're worth more than any silly Doomsday device. I need them alive."

Then seemingly out of nowhere, the Professor produced a small electric, wicked-looking, handsaw.

"Professor, I thought you said you needed them alive."

"I do….so I can dissect them, and find out how they work _inside_.

Zoidberg got a panicked look on his face and quickly got out,

""Um, I have to…um….go and do that…..thing that I said I was going to do, but never got around to."

"Yes, yes. Good luck with that, Leela."

Zoidberg swiftly vacated the area to return to the hanger and the Professor turned back to his monkey heart and doomsday device.

* * *

I'm sorry that this is a short one. Please forgive if there are spelling errors, and Review, Review, Review! Thanks


	4. Chapter 4

Zoidberg quickly ran from the room to search for the first crew member he could find. Meanwhile Leela and Amy were in the parlor sipping margaritas. Leela still had the evidence of her recent flood of emotions, and Amy was trying to help her feel better.

"Oh, its ok, Leela. I'm sure that those two aren't really that serious."

"He became a man-fish to be with her, Amy! How could you not call that serious?"

"I don't understand why you…"

Just then, Zoidberg stumbled into the room and burst out with,

"The Professor's gonna kill Fry and the fish-woman!

The two women looked at him and Amy said,

"What do you mean 'the Professor's gonna kill Fry?'"

"In the lab; he told me. We gotta save him!"

Leela's face hardened and she retorted,

"Why should we? He obviously doesn't want to be human, and he's more valuable the way he is now. If the Professor wants to kill him, I say 'good riddance.'"

Zoidberg ran over to her and groveled,

"Please, Leela! He's my best friend; I don't want him to die."

The women looked at the distressed space-lobster until Amy spoke up,

"Wait a minute, if he's your best friend, why did you try to kill him on your planet that one time?"

"Hey yeah," Leela retorted.

Zoidberg realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the women, so he left the parlor with a dejected look on his face and the ladies went back to their margaritas. Zoidberg was on the verge of panicking. He really didn't want to see Fry get dissected. He was one of the only ones who was ever nice to him. Then he thought,

"_Perhaps the robot will help_."

He returned to the hanger and sought out Bender who was still lying on the floor, passed out from his go-round with the magnet. Zoidberg attempted to shake him awake and said,

"Robot! Please wake up!"

Bender mumbled something and turned over, but Zoidberg wasn't going to give up so easily. He tried again to shake the robot who finally gave some kind of recognition of being alive. He turned over and muttered,

"Oh, what hit me? Zoidberg? Whaddoyawant?'

"Robot, please! The Professor's gonna dissect Fry; we gotta help him!"

"Pfft, like I….wait a minute. Whaddoyamean the Professor's gonna dissect Fry?"

"He told me…in the lab. He said he was going to cut him to find out how he works on the inside. He said he was going to do the same thing to the fish-woman. Please, we gotta save 'em!"

Bender thought about for a minute while rubbing his chin. Did he really want to save a human? The answer came to him after a moment. He did. Fry was Bender's best friend and if he didn't help then there would be no one to share anything with ever again. He rose to his feet, pointed his finger up at nowhere in particular and said,

"I will save Fry!"

"Hooray!" Zoidberg shouted in reply.

"What are you on about now, Zoidberg?" a crotchety, old man's voice said.

Bender and Zoidberg whipped around meeting the Professor's face and the hand-held saw that he had brought with him. Zoidberg searched for something to say, but all he could come up with was,

"I was just….um….celebrating one of my planet's holiday's. Yeah."

"Oh really? Which one?"

"….um…Lobster Revolution Day?"

"Oh you mean the day the lobsters revolted against their human overlords and took over the planet, but perished because of the lack of water?"

Zoidberg and Bender looked and each other and Bender shrugged. Zoidberg looked back over to the Professor and replied,

"Yeeeeaaaaah."

"Oh, my," said the Professor thoughtfully. Well in that case, I probably shouldn't desecrate a sea creature on this holiest of holidays."

Then Bender piped up,

"That's right, Professor. You can desecrate the bodies of the sea-people tomorrow. After all, you've had a long day, and it's late."

"You're right Bender. It can wait another day, I suppose. After all, it's Lobster Revolution Day."

The Professor toddled off, and both Zoidberg and Bender sighed in relief. Then they made their way to the tank that the two merpeople were sleeping in. Bender knocked on the glass and shouted,

"Fry! Fry! Wake up, buddy!"

"Wait, robot; don't knock on the glass. You might break it."

"Well then, Mr. 'Lobster Revolution Day' why don't you go wake them up?"

Zoidberg reluctantly hoisted himself into the tank and shook Fry and Umbriel. Fry had fallen asleep with his arm around her and was none too happy about being woken especially after just having fallen asleep a few minutes ago. Zoidberg gestured for them to swim up to the surface, but Fry didn't get it. He looked to Umbriel for clarification and she sleepily said,

"I think he wants to talk to us on the surface."

It finally got through to Fry's head, and the two merpeople swam up where they were greeted by a panicked robot. He said,

"You guys! We gotta get you out of here! The Professor wants to dissect you!"

Fry understood that. He got a look of sheer terror on his face, but it was Umbriel's turn to be confused. She said,

"What do you mean, Mr. Bender? I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with the word 'dissect.'"

Fry leaned over and whispered in her ear what it meant and after she heard it, her expression mirrored Fry's. She cried out,

"Mr. Bender, Mr. Zoidberg! Please get us out of here! I don't wanna die! Oh, Fry hold me."

She buried herself into Fry and erupted into tears. Fry held her and said,

"There, there, Umbriel it'll be all right." Then he looked to his two friends and said,

"You guys gotta get us out of here! I don't care how you do it, but get us back to the ocean!"

Zoidberg's head and shoulders emerged from the water and he said,

"We need Leela's help. She's the only one who can….."

He was cut off by Bender, who retorted,

"That one-eyed, purple-haired monster left me up on that magnet and left me to sing the most hated song in history! I am not going to ask her for help."

"Who said you needed to ask?"

Bender and Zoidberg whipped around again at the female voice. Fry cried,

"Leela! You're going to help us get out of here?"

Leela crossed her arms and sighed before replying,

"Yes."

Fry, Bender and Zoidberg gave a rousing cry, but Leela put her finger to her lips and said,

"Shhhh! Keep it down! If you wake up the Professor, he'll want to cut you open for sure."

The three of them immediately went quiet. Then Leela said,

"Okay, its 15 minutes to the ocean and a fish can't last for more than 15 minutes out of water. However, I can't get the ship out without waking the Professor, and he'll know that I left with you when he finds you two, me and the ship gone. So we've got to be very fast about this. Bender?

"Yo."

"Is the tank that you built still operational inside the ship?"

Bender sheepishly looked down at the ground and said,

"I sorta used it."

Leela sighed angrily and turned to the two merpeople. She said,

"Do you think you can live long enough to get back to the ocean?"

Umbriel said,

"As long as we've got a little bit of water, we'll be fine sugar."

Leela turned back to Bender and said,

"Go and get two big bottles, so we can fill them up with water. But for heaven's sake, be quiet!"

Bender turned around muttering something about robot slavery and how he was going to kill Leela when this was over. As soon as he was gone, Leela turned to Zoidberg and said,

"Can you be a distraction and stall the Professor?"

Zoidberg said,

"Yes captain! I'll be the best distraction that ever was. I'd gladly put my life on the line for my friends! I'm so happy!"

Zoidberg broke down into tears and grasped Leela in a hug. Leela pulled him off of her in disgust and said in a distasteful voice,

"Zoidberg, just stall the Professor and don't touch me again. Ever."

Zoidberg saluted and took off out the door. As soon as he was gone, Bender came back carrying two empty water buckets and said,

"Here you go, Leela. This was the best I could find."

Leela was sure that it wasn't but they were running out of time. She said,

"It'll have to do. Fry, I'm going to toss these to you. Fill them and give them back to me."

Leela tossed the buckets to Fry and he dipped them in the water and handed them as carefully as he could back to Leela. As soon as that task was done Leela called on Bender again. She said,

"Okay, now then Bender is going to have to carry you into the ship."

As soon as Bender heard that he crossed his arms and said,

"I am not going to carry either of them. They can walk, right?"

Umbriel and Fry looked angrily at Bender and Umbriel put her hands on her hips. She said,

"Now Mr. Bender; does it look like either of us can walk here? Unless you want to see your dearest friend cut up into pieces, you'll do as your captain asks."

Bender looked chastised and the words of the mermaid and he retorted,

"Fine, but I'm not carrying the buckets!"

Bender extended his arms and plucked the mermaid from the tank. He carried her into the ship and strapped her into a seat. Then he returned for Fry and repeated his action. On the way there, Fry said to him,

"Thanks buddy. You're the best."

"Oh, shut up, meatbag," said Bender, but he said it with a hint of a smile.

As soon as Bender placed him in the chair, Fry strapped himself into the seat and Leela gave a bucket to the two merpeople. Bender took his place by the navigational chart and Leela took her place at the pilot's seat and said,

"Now hold on tight. This is going to be rough."

They clutched their buckets of water as Leela started the ship. The ship's rockets roared to life and they took off for the ocean. Leela had been right about the Professor. No sooner had the ship left the hanger when the Professor strolled in with his handheld saw with an angry look on his face saying,

"There's no such thing as 'Lobster Revolution Day!' Where are you Zoidberg! I'm going to tear you a new cloacae!"

The Professor looked over at the tank and saw that it's only occupant was a Decapodian waving at him! He looked around the hanger and saw that his ship was missing as well. At that sight, he grew so angry that he ran to the tank and started beating on it. He shouted,

"You come out of there, you miserable excuse for a doctor!"

Zoidberg just stared at him and didn't move. Finally the Professor gave up and said,

"Fine, I'm going to get help from the most decorated soldier in the known galaxy!"

The Professor stormed off to make a phone call. He brought up the number on the computer screen and speed-dialed the Nimbus. A gargantuan ship captained by the most idiotic yet successful man in the Milky Way Galaxy: Zapp Brannigan. The video phone, however, was answered by Zapp's second in command: Lt. Kif Kroker. The green alien immediately recognized the caller and answered it in hopes of speaking to his beloved; Amy Wong. When the face of the Professor greeted him, his smile fell and he said,

"Hello Professor. How can I help you?"

"I need to speak with Captain Brannigan immediately! It's urgent!"

"I'm afraid the Captain is bust at the moment, but perhaps I can…."

Kif was cut off by the sound of a male voice which was entirely overconfident and full of itself.

"Kif, who is that?"

Kif gave a weary sigh and said,

"Planet Express, sir."

"Planet Express, eh? The workplace of the lovely, sultry and sensual Leela. She must be calling for me."

Zapp Brannigan appeared on screen and pushed poor Kif out of the way. When he saw that it was the Professor who was calling, he said,

"Oh, Professor; I was expecting…eh, someone else. Is Leela there?"

"No she's not! In fact she's absconded with my ship and I need your help!"

"Why should the military help with such a trivial thing as an absconded ship? They make something for that nowadays, don't they?"

"Blast it, Brannigan! She stole it along with two very important scientific discoveries that will guarantee me the Nobel Prize at the next award ceremony!"

"Oh. Well, in that case Captain Zapp Brannigan at your service. I'll get them back for you, don't you worry about it."

Kif spoke up and said to the Professor,

"Um, is Amy…."

Brannigan cut the transmission before Kif could finish asking his question and Brannigan said,

"Now now, Kif, we must save the pleasantries for later and focus on our new mission. Set a very sexy course for Planet Earth."

"How do you know they're on Earth, sir?" asked Kif with no trace of emotion.

"Brannigan's Law, Kif. I just know."

Kif wearily sighed again, but did as he was told. Meanwhile, Leela had reached a spot in the ocean that seemed good enough to set down. She activated the water pumps and the pontoons and put the ship down in the water. Umbriel and Fry unhooked themselves from their chairs, and Bender picked Umbriel up first and chucked her into the water. Then he did the same with Fry. As soon as they hit the water they immediately felt better, and Fry said to Umbriel,

"You go on down, and I'll be there in a minute."

"All right, hon but let me at least thank our rescuers."

Umbriel swam over to Bender and Leela and said,

"I can't thank you enough for getting me out of that place. You are true heroes."

Leela just crossed her arms and said,

"Forget it. Just get out of here."

Umbriel looked at the Cyclops sadly and she said to Fry,

"I'll see you in a minute, sugar."

Umbriel kissed Fry on the check and dove beneath the waves. For a minute, Fry was alone with Leela and Bender and he said to them,

"Bender, thanks again buddy. I'd be sushi by now if it wasn't for you."

"Oh, just get out of here and go live happily ever after."

Bender took off sobbing leaving Fry and Leela alone. Leela looked at the redhead and said,

"Are you sure this is what you want? To live like….this?"

"Fry looked around himself at the vast ocean and said,

"I….I think so. Yes; but Leela?"

"Yes Fry?"

"Just promise me that you'll never forget me."

"How can I? You're a….well; I'm not sure what to call you."

"I'm a merman, Leela."

They looked at each other for a minute and suddenly Leela knew in her heart that she didn't want to see him go like this. She jumped into the water and swam to him.

"Leela! What…."

Leela embraced him and said in a sobbing voice,

"I'm sorry, Fry! I'm sorry that I rejected your proposal! I'm sorry that I threw you out! I'm sorry! Please don't leave like this!"

Fry was confused. First she wanted to kill him, now she wanted him to come back? Umbriel resurfaced to find out what was taking so long and saw Leela hugging her man. She demanded,

"What is going on here?"

"Umbriel!" Fry started, "She was hugging me; I swear!"

Umbriel turned accusing eyes towards the Cyclops and said,

"Is that true, Miss Leela?"

Leela released Fry and looked down at the water.

"Yes," she admitted.

Umbriel swam over to Fry and grabbed him. She said to Leela,

"You had your chance with him, sugar. He's mine now. Come on, Fry. Let's go."

Umbriel angrily dove back down and with one final look at Leela Fry dove down and followed her. A flick of a copper-colored fish-tail and he was gone. Just like that, and with him went Leela's heart. She swam back over to the ship and hoisted herself onto the pontoon. Bender met her there and said,

"What's the holdup? You and fish-face get in a fight?"

Leela shot him a dirty look him and went back to the Captain's chair. She closed the hatch, shut off, the water pumps, deflated the pontoons and started the rockets. Soon they were shooting off back towards Planet Express. They never made it. The Nimbus quickly descended on them, and forcefully pulled the smaller ship inside with a tractor beam. Zapp Brannigan was waiting at the loading dock with handcuffs. He boarded the ship, approached Leela and said,

"So, you had to come crawling back, didn't you? I knew you couldn't stay away forever my sultry rock dove."

Leela wanted to punch him so bad, but she resisted and said,

"I guess I'm under arrest. Just do it."

"Do it? That's what you did with Zapp the last time! WHOOOO!"

Leela delivered a well-aimed kick at Bender's head again and he clattered to the floor. He picked himself up again with death threats to Leela, but Zapp said,

"Enough of this chatter. Where is the science project?"

"What are you talking about," asked Leela.

"You're employer told me that you had absconded a project of his that would win him the Nobel Prize. So you tell me where you stashed it, and perhaps we can….work something out?"

(tck tck)

"Go take a long walk off a short pier, Zapp. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ooooo, stubborn, eh? Well, I have ways of making you talk. Kif, take them to the brig."

Kif approached Leela and Bender and said,

"Follow me please."

Reluctantly Leela and Bender followed the green, squishy alien to the Nimbus' holding cell, but before Leela left the room, Zapp grabbed her shoulder and whispered in her ear,

"We'll have a very sensual talk later; Captain to Captain."

Leela just rolled her eye and kept on walking. Unbeknownst to the robot and Cyclops, two merpeople had witnessed the Planet Express ship's capture, and were well on their way into an argument about it.

* * *

I fixed a few spelling errors that I caught, and once again reviews are desired and appreciated. Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

"We have to do something, Umbriel! They saved us even though it got them in trouble,"

Umbriel turned her back to Fry and stuck her nose up.

"Why should I care two sea scallops about that woman? She had her arms all over you like a squid on a whale, and I do not appreciate it."

Fry swam over to her and gently put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. He said,

"She saved you too, ya know. We can't leave them like that; it just wouldn't be right."

"And throwing you out in the middle of the night after she rejected your proposal; I suppose that saving us makes up for that doesn't it?"

Fry looked down and thought a second before replying.

"No; but she's still my friend and she didn't have to do what she did. Please Umbriel?"

Umbriel got very angry and said,

"If you want to help your little freaky friends, you go right ahead, but I'm staying out of it. As far as I'm concerned it's either me or them; so what's it gonna be?"

Umbriel stared angrily at Fry, daring him to say the wrong thing. But it was Fry's turn to get upset.

"I can't choose between my friends and you; that's not fair! They saved us both and we both owe them our lives! How can you make me make a choice like that? I would never do that to you!"

Umbriel's expression never changed and she said sobbing in anger,

"I guess you really do care more about them that me!"

She swam away from him at a very fast pace crying her eyes out. Fry called,

"Wait! Umbriel!" but she was gone.

Fry was alone in a huge ocean with no one but himself, and the knowledge that his friends were in danger. But he remained stalwart in his decision to do something. Even if it meant that he would have to give himself up to save his friends, he was not going to let them suffer. He took off towards the surface to see if he could see what was going on. When his head broke the surface, all he saw was the Nimbus resting peacefully on the water. Meanwhile below deck, Leela and Bender were being kept inside a cramped space about the size of a large bathroom. Bender was playing a harmonica and Leela was pacing back and forth impatiently. Suddenly she stomped and shouted,

"What is taking so long! Why haven't we left yet?"

"Just chill out, stretch-pants; take a load off and don't worry."

Bender went back to playing his harmonica and Leela put her hands on her hips and leaned over Bender threatening violence. She said,

"Do you know what they do to people who steal spaceships, Bender?"

"No."

"They get the death penalty!"

"So? I'm a robot. They can't kill me."

"Oh no?"

"No!"

"Have you ever seen a Court Pulver-Judge?"

Bender's interest was peaked and he put down his harmonica with a hint of fear in his voice.

"A what?"

"A machine that has a dual role of a judge and executioner; it's used to judge robots guilty or not guilty, and then demolish robots sentenced to death. It's kind of medieval, but effective. It takes you and squeezes you between two metal sheets of galvanized steel reinforced with diamond filaments. It squeezes so hard that your servos feel every bit of pressure, you're eyes pop out of their sockets, and lastly, your very oil rushes out in a torrent and collected in a bucket."

By now Bender was shaking with fear and asked in a small voice, quivering,

"Wh…what do they do with the bucket?"

"Recycle it."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Bender began stammering unintelligibly and had curled himself as small as he could. While Bender was panicking, Kif appeared at the door and said to Leela,

"The Captain would like to speak to you now."

Leela looked angrily at Kif and said,

"You can tell that pompous, velour-loving, chauvinistic, idiotic, weakling of a pantywaist that I do not want to see his jackass of a face again!"

Inwardly Kif smiled at her insults, but he kept his face a mask and said,

"I know how you feel, but if you don't come with me then he will come for you and take you up to talk to him by, 'any means necessary' and he mentioned that he hoped you would put up a fight."

"I wouldn't give him the satisfaction!" Leela retorted.

She followed Kif out of the brig leaving Bender to stammer and stew in his fear. Kif shackled her in handcuffs, so her arms were pretty useless, but she made mental notes of where the keys were kept. Kif brought her to the bridge and said to Brannigan, who was deeply involved in some kind of magazine,

"I've brought the prisoner, sir."

"Whaah!" He threw the magazine across the room, "Kif! Don't scare me like that! Oh, eh I see you've brought the prisoner. Did she put up a fight?"

"No sir," said Kif with a weary sigh.

"Hmm, so the spirit is broken but the body remains; and a very sensual body at that," Brannigan said looking over Leela like she was a whole pie that he wanted just for himself.

Oh, how she wanted to kick him in a very specific area, but she resisted the urge and stood there; but not without shooting him a very nasty look. Brannigan faced Kif and said,

"Leave us alone now Kif. Me and the uh…Captain have things to discuss."

Kif left the room glad to get away from Brannigan for a while. Brannigan turned away from Leela and faced the window with his hands crossed behind his back. He said,

"You know what the penalty for stealing a spaceship is, right?"

"Yes, it's…."

"I didn't think so. It's the death penalty. Do you know what happens when you get the death penalty, Leela?"

"Yeah, you…."

"You die! They kill you and use your body for horrible things!"

"No they don't; they…."

"How can I live knowing that someone will be doing horrible things to you after you're dead?"

Zapp broke down into crocodile tears, and Leela sighed exasperated. She said,

"Look Zapp; I did what I did and I'm not sorry for it, so if they give me the death penalty, I'll take it."

Zapp turned off the fake waterworks half-turned to face her and said,

"I can get you out of this you know."

"How?"

"All you have to do is give me back the science project and I'll get you off scott-free. Oh and you move in with me, and it's a deal. Whadoyasay?"

Leela looked at him and said,

"First of all, I'm not moving in with you; second of all, I don't know what science project you're talking about. Even if I did I wouldn't dare dream of giving him back to the Professor."

Brannigan smiled cockily and said,

"'Him?' So you do know something about it."

Leela clapped her hands over her mouth and tried to think of a way to amend her mistake, but the damage was done. She stammered,

"Uh….he…the um….IT was going to be dissected and I didn't want to see that happen. It was just a poor innocent creature that had done no harm to anyone."

At those words she thought to herself,

"_But plenty of wrong had been done to him. By me. Oh, Fry_!"

A tear threatened to well up, but she blinked it away and stared into space to keep any more suspicion off of her. Zapp looked at her and then back to the window. He looked down deciding what to do with his woman (at least she was in his mind) and then he saw a flash of something shiny in the water below him. He looked more closely at the spot, and Leela said,

"What are you looking at, Zapp?"

"There's something down there. Kif!"

Leela went to the window and looked. The ultimate surprise hit her when she saw Fry's head and shoulders emerge from the water. Unfortunately, Brannigan saw him too. He looked and said,

"Isn't that an associate of yours? What's he doing all the way out…"

"HEE-YAH!" Leela cried.

She delivered a roundhouse kick to the back of Brannigan's head knocking him out. He slumped to the ground with an audible groan and Leela said,

"I guess you didn't know that I studied Chuck Norris style martial arts."

Just then, Kif appeared through the door and saw Brannigan's body laid out unconscious. He felt like jumping for joy that someone had finally taken the initiative to teach that guy a lesson, but he didn't. He looked at Leela and said,

"I won't say a word."

"Kif, can you get these handcuffs off me?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Kif said brightly, outwardly smiling for the first time in a long time. After she was undone, Leela took the handcuffs and shackled Zapp to a chair bolted to the floor. She and Kif then ran for the brig where they found Bender still stammering and quaking.

"I don't wanna get recycled. I don't wanna get recycled. I don't wanna get recycled. I don't wanna get recycled."

Leela shook Bender out of his trance and said,

"Come on, Bender! We gotta go!"

"Huh? What? Leela! Don't let them recycle me."

"Let's go!"

"Bender didn't need to be told twice. The three of them ran down the corridor until they reached a small hatch on the floor. Kif said,

"This will let you out into the ocean. I can't let you go in your ship, it's too dangerous. I'm sorry."

"It's ok, Lieutenant. I understand. Just go back up to the bridge and act like you've been knocked out as well."

Kif let the two of them down into the ocean and closed the hatch behind them. He took off for the bridge and lay down on his back doing a very good impersonation of someone who had been knocked out. Meanwhile, down below, Fry met his friends with open arms. Leela hugged him again and said,

"You never went away. Why?"

"I couldn't let you just stay there. I had to do something, even if it was only being here until you took off or something."

Fry and Leela shared a smile, but were interrupted by Bender who said,

"Yeah yeah, mush mush; save it for later! We've gotta cheese it!"

"Right, right," said Fry, "Bender, do you still have those air bags in your chest compartment?"

"Yo."

Bender opened his chest and a few oxygen masks fell out. Leela put on one and asked Bender,

"How fast can you swim?"

"I can go about 45 miles per hour. Why?"

"Cause we're gonna swim. Fast." Fry replied.

Fry dove down beneath the waves with Leela clinging to his shoulders for dear life and Bender using every servo in his powerful body to keep up. Fry had become an accomplished swimmer over the last few days and he was using his tail for all it was worth. Soon they were well away from the Nimbus and about halfway to Liberty Island. Fry had to stop and rest for a minute. He was tired as were Leela's arms. As soon as they were on the surface, Leela took off her oxygen mask and said to him,

"I'm impressed, Fry. You've gotten to be a much better swimmer."

He looked down and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I guess being half-fish does that to ya."

"Wait a minute; where's Umbriel?"

Fry got a sad look on his face and said,

"We had a fight. She wanted me to make a choice between her, or you guys and I chose you guys. I know I did the right thing, but…." He trailed off.

"Fry, look at me."

Fry looked at Leela who gazed into his eyes. She wrapped him in a hug and said,

"I'm so sorry."

He wrapped him arms around her and said nothing. He was just finding comfort in her embrace. Bender looked at them and said,

"Aww. I hate to interrupt you guys, but THEY FOUND US!"

Fry and Leela looked up and saw that the Nimbus had chased them down and was now hovering above them. Leela put her oxygen mask back on and Fry and Bender dove back down beneath the waves. The Nimbus was hot on their tail, and they were being tracked through sonar. Above them, Zapp Brannigan was watching the screen intently, and he said,

"You're not getting away from me, my dear. Zapp Brannigan always gets his man. Er, woman. Whatever. I want them alive, men! Especially the woman."

Leela asked Fry,

"Is there anywhere that we can hide?"

"Hang on, I know just the spot."

Fry dove down into an undersea cave. Above them, the Nimbus' sonar no longer registered them and the reading became distorted. Brannigan hit the sonar in frustration, but quickly regained his calm and turned to his crew.

"Men; looks like we're going deep sea diving. And by 'we' I mean you."

None of the crew looked too happy about that considering that none of them knew how to swim. However, none of them had the desire to go against orders, because the last time that happened…well it wasn't pretty. Brannigan selected a few lowly trainees to do the job, so they got dressed in deep-sea diving suits and after they were dressed Brannigan said,

"Men, it's a great honor that you do for your country and your planet. You may die out there, but when you, you will be remembered with honor. Now then, these guns that I'm giving you are known as 'Widowmakers.' Use them well.

"Wait, how do we…"

The poor trainee never got to finish his question as Zapp opened the hatch and dropped them into the ocean. They walked around circling each other nervously keeping a sharp lookout for anything that might resemble a robot or a female Cyclops. Within the cave, Fry was feeling guilty about having gotten his friends into this mess in the first place. He looked at them and said,

"I'll give myself up. It's not right that you guys have to get punished for me."

"Fry, NO! If they get their hands on you, then they'll dissect you like a frog!"

"It's worth it to see you go free, Leela."

Fry kissed Leela on the cheek and swam out of the cave. Soon he saw one of the soldiers walking around on the ocean floor. Fry figured he better be careful since the soldier had a harpoon with him, so he tapped the soldier on the shoulder while he was still turned around. The soldier said,

"Hang on, Marty. I think I see something over here."

"Uh, I'm not Marty."

The soldier turned around to see who the voice belonged to, and when he got a good look at Fry he almost had a heart attack. He stammered,

"A m…a mmm…..a a mmmermaid! Guy's! Guys! I found a mermaid! And it looks like a dude!"

The other soldiers came to inspect what their companion had discovered, and when they saw that he wasn't suffering from 'Ocean Madness,' the soldier who had discovered Fry got up the courage to point his Widowmaker at Fry and demanded,

"Where have you stashed the prisoners?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, a wise-guy, eh? We know how to deal with wise guys like you."

The trainee slapped a pair of hand-cuffs around Fry's wrists and took him away. From the cave Leela and Bender could only watch as the redhead was hauled away and Fry gave one last look back at them; his expression saying as clear as day, 'help me.' Bender looked at Leela and said,

"Whelp, he's boned. Let's go get a beer."

He took off whistling a jaunty tune, and Leela yanked the cord connecting her oxygen mask to Bender pulling him back. She said,

"Oh, no you don't! We are not going to let them get away with this."

"Geez, Leela! What do you expect to do? Walk up to them and say, 'Ooo, I'm Leela! Look at my big boobs and let me through!' Well do ya!"

"No we are going to find that selfish mermaid and we are going to get her to change Fry back into a human!"

With that Leela took off dragging a very pissed off robot behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

As Leela and Bender trudged along the bottom of the ocean, the farther they went, the less ground they seemed to cover. Finally, Leela slumped to the ground in exhaustion and exclaimed,

"This is hopeless! We'll never be able to find her like this; the ocean is too big!"

"Well then, what do you wanna...uh...hold that thought."

Bender took off towards a gigamtic oyster that he had spotted, and he took off so fast that Leela's oxygen mask went with him. Bender reached the monstrous mollusk and grabbed it's lips to attempt to pry it open.

"Urg...get...I'm gonna...open up! You...will...not resist...me!"

On that last word, Bender pried open the oyster's shell and withdrew a glimmereing pearl from it the size of a basketball! The offended mollusk began to bury itself in the sand feeling quite violated.

"Yeah, that's right ya gaint clam! Run home to yo' mama!"

Bender started prancing around holding his prize above his head shouting,

"Bender's the greatest! Bender's the greatest! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"

Then he started swiveling his hips,

"Everybody do the Bender! Everybody do the Bender!"

Leela got ahold of him and started fishing around in his chest cavity for her oxygen mask.

"Hey! What're you..."

She found what she was looking for, slapped the mask over her mouth and nose, and inhaled a breath of air. Once she had recovered she turned her attention to Bender. He was hugging his newfound prize like it was his most precious child and she ripped it out of his hands.

"Hey!"

"You jerk! You were just gonna let me die for this, weren't you?"

"NO...well maybe."

"BENDER!"

"What! I didn't wanna be here in the first place! This is all your fault you know!"

"How is this my fault?"

Bender just stared at her for a second and then started ticking off exactly why they were there.

"Well, you are the one who rejected Fry's marrige proposal, you are the one who forced him into the arms of a non-human, you are the one who stole the ship, you are the one who got us both arrested for stealing a ship and Fry, and you are the reason that we are down here now, in this watery desert looking for someone that's not even supposed to exist and you are the one who decided to drag me along for the ride! If I wanna reward myself with hard-earned treasure that's just what I'm gonna do!"

Bender made a reach for the pearl, but Leela kept it out of his reach. She stared at him with a look that held absolutley no warmth and screamed at the top of her lungs,

"I wish that you would just GO AWAY, and you can take this thing with you!"

She chucked it at Bender and he caught it. Then it began to glow. It had an inner light that seemed to radiate from its very core and that light enveloped Bender. The light peaked, blinding Leela, and just as it had been there...it was gone; and so was Bender. Leela suddenly felt oxygen fading from her lungs and she made a mad dash to the surface. She didn't make it. Her oxygen-starved lungs gave out just before she reached the surface. She inhaled and felt freezing daggers fill her chest...then nothing. Blackness enveloped her and she felt peace. But death was not in the mood to receive her. She felt a sudden pressure on her chest forcibly making her spew the water that she had inhaled. She looked up through her water-logged vision, saw long blonde hair and then she passed out. When she awoke she was under the sea again lying on a bed. She also had something in her mouth and nose allowing her to filter oxygen from the water. Just to be able to breathe was a relief. She got up and looked around the oddly shaped room. It's walls appeared more spongey that solid and it had a thick carpet of seaweed on the floor. She opened the door and walked outside. When she saw where she was she almost passed out again. Atlanta. She was back in Atlanta! She thought to herself,

"_How did I get here? Who saved me? Wait, what happened to Bender_?" Then she shouted, "Hello? Can anyone hear me? Bender?"

Then Umbriel appeared in front of her with arms crossed, and a very pissed off look on her face. She said,

"The only reason I brought you here is because I know that it was what Fry would have wanted. Now then, I have some questions to ask you missy and you had better tell me the truth."

Leela was defeated. She sighed and said,

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, first of all, where is Fry? Last time I saw him he was with you."

"Umbriel...he's been captured again."

At that statement, Umbriel's posture relaxed a bit and she went from angry to concerned. She uncrossed her arms and said,

"Captured? Who would dare lay a hand on him?"

"A self-centered jerk by name of Zapp Brannigan. He was out on the professor's orders to get the both of you back to the lab."

"How did this happen?"

"He...he gave himself up for me and Bender. I begged him not to, but he didn't listen."

Umbriel replied,

"We've got to save him then! Where's Mr. Bender?"

"I don't know. A pearl glowed and he disappeared into the light."

"A pearl? Mr. Bender came by one of those? Oh dear, this isn't good."

"What not?"

"Tell me Leela, what exactly did you two say before Mr. Bender disappeared?"

"Well, um, I took it away from him, we argued, he tried to take it back from me, but I wouldn't let him have it and I told him that I wished he would go away."

Umbriel's jaw dropped.

"Did you happen to say where you wanted him to go?"

"No; why would I?"

"Miss Leela, that was a wishing pearl. That is one of the rarest things to find in this ocean. Only giant oysters can grow them and that only happens a few times every few hundred years. Your friend could be anywhere right now. He could have landed a few feet away from you or he could be on another planet. I'm sorry, but unless we find another pearl or someone has something that can help locate him, I'm afraid he's gone."

Leela felt guilt drive into her so deep that it propelled her to sit down on a rock and put her head in her hands.

"That's two friends I've lost because of my carelessness! I've got to get them back, but I don't know how. For all I know, Fry is just another corpse that the Professor killed and Bender could be anywhere in the universe. I need help."

Umbriel sighed and got down to Leela's level. She put her arm around her and said,

"We'll figure this out. First of all, we have to figure out what to do about Fry. When was the last time you saw him?"

"When he was being taken away."

"How long ago was that?"

"Earlier today just a little while before you found me."

"Darlin' that was yesterday. You were out the whole night."

"The whole nght! I have to get back to the surface! I have to save him!"

"Now, hold on just a moment here, sugar. We may have had a fight, but he's still my boyfriend. If anyone's going to be doing the saving here, it'll be me."

"We don't have time to argue about this. Let's go before the Professor does something horrible to him!"

The two women agreed on a truce and Umbriel assisted Leela to the surface of the ocean. When they got there, all they could see was water. It was a blue desert with no end in sight. The two women swam as fast as they could towards Planet Express. Leela had trouble keeping up so she had to grab on to Umbriel's shoulders, much as she had done with Fry not twenty-four hours ago. Within a few hours they arrived at their destination. Leela hoisted herself out of the water and turned to Umbriel,

"I'll go inside and find him. If I do, I'll do my very best to get him out of there and back with you. Then you two swim like hell."

Umbriel agreed and Leela went inside. The moment she stepped inside the gizmo on her wrist started playing spy music. It scared her a little and she pressed a button shutting it off. She wondered how that thing was even working after having been underwater so long. Then she saw a lttle sticker that said 'Waterproof up to 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea.' Leela scoffed and continued stealthily on her journey towards the lab. She reached the door and it slid open just a smidge so that she could look inside. What she saw horrified her. Fry was laying on a sheet-draped table chained by the wrists, around his waist and the lower joint of his tail so that he couldn't flap around. He was surrounded by a bunch of older guys all wearing white lab coats and carrying clip boards. They were oohing and ahhing over Fry's body like he was a chocolate cake and poor Fry was struggling and pleading with them all to find mercy in their hearts to spare him.

"Please, um...extinguished gentledudes! I don't wanna get cut up! Let me go!"

"Silence, MF 23145!" retorted the Professor, "You're embarrasing me!"

"I'm embarrasing you? I'm the one you chained to a table you looney old man! And stop calling me that!"

Just then, one of the scientists spoke up,

"Beg your pardon, Professor Farnsworth, but how can we be certain that your discovery isn't a hoax?"

"Eh, wha? A hoax you say? You require further proof of my genius? Oh very well, I suppose that you are entitled."

Leela watched as the Professor took a pair of tweezers from the sterile table next to Fry. He slid the tweezers under one of the scales on Fry's tail and yanked it out.

"YEEEOW! That's worse then that one time I tried to brush my hair!" Fry exclaimed.

The Profesor put the scale under a microscope and all the scientists gathered around him.

"You see, my friends, this is a scale that I took from a common tuna this morning, and this is the scale that I have just taken from our friend here."

Leela took the opportunity while they were all distracted to sneak inside and hide underneath the tabe Fry was chained to.

"Leela!"

"Shh!"

"What was that, experiement MF 23145?" The Professor turned around and inquired.

"Um...I just really miss Leela. I wish that she was here with me now."

Undereneath the table, Leela smiled inwardly. Then she heard the Professor say,

"As you can see, the scales are completely identical in every way. This person is a real freak of nature, gentlemen. A Nobel Prize worthy freak of nature, I hope."

The Professor got a hopeful look on his face as the deligates considered. Just then, that pompous voice that Leela had come to utterly loathe said,

"Excuse me, Professor, but I too have yet to see proof that this is a real mermaid. How can we be sure?"

"He's not a mermaid, Brannigan; he's a merMAN. Do you see any breasts on him? I don't think so, but take a look for yourself. He's real."

Leela heard heavy footsteps approaching the table and inwardly cringed Without a doubt she would be discovered. The footsteps were almost upon her when a more obnoxious voice sounded,

"Hello, science freaks!"

"Bender?" said the Professor, "What are you doing here? I thought that you were lost to the ocean."

"I was but then I wound up here. Don't ask me how, but here I am. Ooo, I've got something better to show you than an old, dried out, mythological creature. Check THIS out!"

Bender whipped something out and Leela took the opportunity to scoot the tabe closer to the window where the water was waiting just below. The science delegates and Zapp Brannigan were distracted by whatever it was that Bender had and little by little, Leela managed to get the table over to the window. She cut the bonds that held Fry to the tabel and jumped out from under the table surprising everyone in the room.

"Leela! What are you doing with my experiement now?"

"Sorry Professor. He's mine."

Leela picked Fry up off the table and jumped out the window to the waiting waves below. They hit the water with a loud splash and looked up. The Professor shouted,

"Don't let them get away! That mermaid is my ticket to a Nobel Prize!"

"Eh, Professor, I thought you said he was a merman," said Brannigan.

The Professor turned to him and retorted,

"I don't care what you want to call him, just get him back!"

"Right, right."

Brannigan pulled a small henheld communicator out and said into it,

"Kif, engage ship option Alpha-Beta-Gamma-Niner. We've got some fishing to do...again." he closed the communicator and said to himself,

"This is getting really old."

Fry and Leela met Umbriel on the surface and Umbriel embraced Fry.

"Oh, Fry, sugar! I thought that something terrible happened to you!'

Fry pulled her arms off of him and said,

"Umbriel. I need you to turn me back into a human. They'll never stop chasing me if I don't."

"But...Fry..."

He held up his hand and said,

"I've got no choice. Undo whatever that pearl did to me so that I can be human again. Please Umbriel!"

His face was a veritable map of fear and concern. Umbriel didn't want to lose him back to the land, but she would lose him forever if the spell wasn't undone. So she took him in her arms and said,

"This is not something I want to do, but here's how you undo your wish."


	7. Chapter 7

"All you have to do is….."

She never finished her sentence because she was interrupted by a sudden loud splash of water behind them all. They all whipped around to see what the interruption was and the sight that met their eyes could not have been more fearful. A reddish-orange robot with bug-like eyes on the top of his head, and a demeanor that screamed of insanity had emerged from the water. The robot looked at them and said,

"Hey, ya'll! How ya doin'? Roberto's back, and he's badder than ever!"

Fry stammered,

"R…R…Roberto? What are you doin' here?"

"Oh heeeey, Red! Still feelin' sick?"

"S..sick? Who's sick?"

"Don't question me, you fat sack of flesh! Just give me whatever treasure you have and I'll be on my way."

Then Umbriel said,

"We don't have any treasure on us, now if you'll excuse us we have to get away from here!"

"Get away? Get away! You want to get away from me? Oh now you've done it, blondie! Roberto's gonna mess you up! Mess you up bad!"

Roberto took a large butcher knife from his chest cavity and started waving it threateningly at Umbriel.

"Come on! You wanna get away from me, you're gonna have to go through me!"

Just then the Nimbus descended upon them and a man's voice came over the loudspeaker,

"You are surrounded! Give your selves up! You have nowhere to go and we can locate wherever you are! I repeat give yourselves up!"

Fry turned to Umbriel and pleaded over the roar of the engines,

"How do I undo the wish!"

Before she could answer Roberto grabbed her and held the knife to her back and said,

"You think you're little girlfriend is more important than me? I'll show ya! I'll show ya all!"

The horrible 'thunk' of knife piercing a body somehow seemed to resound above the roar of the engines. Time slowed to a crawl for Fry and he didn't even think about his next actions, he just…..reacted. A streak of copper lightning flashed through the water and moved so quickly that Roberto never had time to think about what was happening. The woman he was holding was out of his hands in a flash and he was dragged underwater with a power that he had never known. Down, down, down he went beneath the waves and as he looked back he saw pretty blue water and a coppery fish tail providing a stark contrast to the blue around him. Fry took him all the way down to the bottom of the ocean and SLAMMED him into the ocean floor. Roberto finally got a good look at Fry and he stammered,

"You're a…..you're a….a….um…."

Fry balled up his fist and punched him in the face silencing him. He didn't even feel his own skin break. All he could think was demolishing this insane piece of metal that should have been dismantled long ago. He continued to wale on Roberto with his fists, until he saw something that he could use better. He got up off of Roberto went to a large rock. He used newfound strength that only comes from pure rage and picked up the teeming boulder. Roberto tried to back up from the merman and said,

"W…what'cha gonna do with that rock there, Red?"

"What should have been done a long time ago, you piece of garbage!"

"No….WAIT!"

Fry slammed the rock on Roberto's head crushing the metal and flooding his inner compartments with water. Fry spat one word at the dying robot,

"Die!"

And it was the last the Roberto heard. A clack and clank of stressed mechanical joints and an expulsion of oil signaled the end of the crazed robot. Fry made his way back to the surface and found Leela cradling the mermaid. Fry went to them and took Umbriel from Leela. She gently touched his cheek and whispered,

"Take me home, hon."

Then she passed. Fry held her close and a wordless, primordial sound came from his the depths of his soul; the sound that is made whenever you have lost someone near and dear to yourself. His face shone with fresh tears and Leela swam over to him and tried to give him comfort, but there was none to be found. Leela looked at him with sadness in her eye, and just then two people from the Nimbus descended on them and picked Leela and the two merpeople up from the water. Fry refused to let go of Umbriel so his ascension into the ship was slower. They were all taken into Planet Express. Fry and Leela were placed in cuffs and Fry was put into the tank. Umbriel was taken from Fry by the Professor and looked at her with great fascination.

"Hmmmm, well this is interesting."

"You leave her alone!"

Exclaimed Fry.

"Oh, pish-posh, Fry; I'm not going to hurt her, she's already dead."

Then Leela spoke up,

"Professor, Umbriel and I may not have been the greatest of friends, but her last request was to take her home. Shouldn't we at least honor that?"

"Eh, wha? Honoring a dead mermaid? Preposterous! My research! My Nobel Prize will be given to that little pretender, Wernstrom…..AGAIN!"

"Professor….please. Some things are more important than a Nobel Prize. We Earthicans have always strived to give honor to someone in their final moments. Shouldn't we do the same for her?"

The Professor considered for a moment then he got a sneaky look on his face which was quickly replaced by a look of compassion.

"I suppose you're right, Leela. We should take her home. A last request is a last request after all. Brannigan, keep Fry and Leela under lock and key. Make sure that they don't escape again. I'll be back shortly."

"Professor, please let us come with you. They'll want to know what happened and we were the closest ones to her when she died."

The professor considered again and said,

"Oh, very well, but you are still under arrest until I say that you aren't. You two are going to be very closely guarded."

It was the best they could do at the moment, but at least the Professor wasn't going to leave them alone with Brannigan. The Professor got them loaded up in the ship. Umbriel's body was wrapped in a white sheet and Fry held her as they made the journey back to the ocean. When they were far enough out, the ship was set down and everyone put on portale oxygen masks and piled into the water. Brannigan was holding a gun to Leela's back and standing far too closely to her. She resisted the urge to punch him, but only just barely. They made their way toward the gates of Atlanta and when they approached, Umbriel's father met them.

"Well, howdy strangers! Long time, no see!" He greeted enthusiastically. "What'cha got under the sheet there, boy?" He asked Fry.

Fry could barely keep from crying again as he said,

"Sir...I'm sorry, but your daughter..."

The old southern gentleman's face went from enthusiastic to concerned,

"What about my daughter?"

"I'm afraid that she's dead. A crazy robot stabbed her with a knife, and her last word were to take her home."

Fry gave the sheet-draped mermaid over to her father, and then the old man did the most surprising thing that anyone could have ever seen after the events that had transpired that day: he started laughing! Not the kind of laughing that somone might do when they are trying to cover up their grief, but the kind of laughter that occurs when you have just heard a funny joke or a hilarious story! The whole gang was confused and Leela got mad. She said,

"Sir, I don't mean to be rude, but this is your daughter! You're holding your dead little girl in your arms and you laughing about it? I fail to see the humor!"

"Oh, little lady," the old man said, "we merfolk are hard to kill. We have ways of survival that no human could ever understand. Come with me and I'll show you."

As the group followed the old merman back to the house that rather looked like an eighteenth-century plantation, the Profesor got that sneaky look on his face again but no one caught it since they were too absorbed in what might happen to Umbriel. The old man took them into the house and into the dining room where he laid out his daughter's body on the table with reverant care. He took the sheet off her face and there she was. Umbriel was lying there peacefully as though she had gone to sleep, but she looked completely different. The old man went into his china cabinent and pulled from it a magnificent looking pearl that was obviously worth a lot of money. He said to them,

"This pearl is only one of two ever found that have the power to grant more than one wish. The other one is down in the cellar here, but if there has been a better time to use one wish on this pearl I cannot think of one."

The old merman grasped the pearl and said,

"Rarest gem of the sea, hear my wish and bring my daughter back to me."

The pearl glowed and it enveloped Umbriel in it's light. It only took a moment and when the light was gone, Umbriel was still lying on the table like nothing had happened. Fry began to become downhearted again thinking that perhaps it hadn't worked, but then she began to stir and she sat up stretched and yawned like she had just been roused from a deep slumber. She looked at the group surrounding her and said,

"Oh my! What happened?"

Fry enbraced her and said,

"Oh Umbriel! I thought you were dead!"

"Oh, Mr. Fry, you do go on."

"No I'm serious! You were dead!"

Umbriel just giggled and swam away. Fry turned to her father and asked,

"What's the matter with her? It's like she doesn't even remember anything."

"Well son, go talk to her."

Fry quickly swam after her and found her in her room. He asked,

"Umbriel...do you remember anything?"

She turned around fast with a pissed off look on her face. She spat out,

"Of course I do, idiot! I remember exactly how you let that maniac stab me!"

Fry was apalled! He stood there stock still with his mouth hanging open until Umbriel said,

"Close your mouth, you look like a humpback whale!"

She turned around and started brushing her long blond hair. Fry said,

"I...you...we save your life...Leela helps you to escape...I get my scales yanked out...I get poked and prodded like some kind of freaky science experiment and this is the thanks I get! You know what, Umbriel, you are really selfish! I'm outta here."

Umbriel softened a, little and called him back,

"Fry, listen. The only reason that you wished yourself to be like that was because you wanted to make your precious Cyclops jealous...well...you've succeeded and now she'll take you back. You never lost your feelings for her, you just put them on someone else, and I was a fool for thinking that I could take her place. Thank you for bringing me home, but I think it's time that you turned back into a human and left this place."

Fry looked at her not quite knowing how to feel. He was glad that she was okay, but she was right. He was still in love with Leela and he had put those feelings onto Umbriel. Umbriel went over to a corner and pulled something out of a small sea chest. It was wrapped up in waterproof wrapping and Fry unfurled it revealing his signature red jacket that she had saved. Fry reached into the pocket and pulled out a small velvet box still encrusted with some of the remnants of Bender's 'cooking.' Umbriel said,

"What is in that little box is meant for Miss Leela, not for me. Now if you'll excuse me."

She departed him and left him alone. He sat down on her bed and gazed at the tiny box that held it's meaningful treasure. Just then Leela walked into the room and startled Fry a little. He clambered to hide the box but failed. Leela caught hiim and say down beside him. She said,

"Fry, you know...the night that you proposed to me...that was actually very sweet."

Their eyes met and they smiled at each other. Suddenly a clash and rattling was heard from somewhere in the house startling the human and the merman. Leela grabbed onto Fry's shoulders and they rushed out the door to see what was making that noise. They found Umbriel cradling her father and Zapp Brannigan laid out on the floor, but no one was paying much attention to him. Leela said,

"What happened?"

Umbriel's father groaned a little and said,

"That crazy old man that you came with knocked me over the head and made off with my pearls!" Then he addressed Fry, "Boy, if'n you ever wanna see your legs again, you've got to get those pearls back from him. Please!"


	8. Chapter 8

The three of them got the old merman into his bed and stepped out of the room. Leela asked,

"Now what are we going to do?"

"Well, probably our first course of action is to find a member of the law," replied Umbriel.

"Right, good idea," agreed Fry.

The three of them departed from the house leaving Zapp laid out on the floor. He soon came to and muttered,

"Oh what hit me? Kif, tell me where we are and then get me out of here."

No answer.

"Kif?"

Still nothing.

"Blast it, Kroker! Fine, I'll do all the work myself, like usual."

He pulled his oversized body off the seaweed carpeted floor and made his way out the door where he saw a couple of very lovely mergirls doing some laundry. He put on his best charming smile, slicked back his hair (which promptly fell back into place), pulled out a cigarette and tried to light it. When it failed he threw the lighter away, but left the small cylinder in his mouth and approached them. He said in his best and most practiced suave voice (at least it was in his ears) and said,

"Well hello, ladies. How would you like to spend some quality with the Zapper?"

The mergirls just ignored him, and then Brannigan began to get more…..aggressive. Meanwhile, Fry, Leela and Umbriel had located a member of the Atlantian police f or ce and soon an All Points Bulletin was put out on a crotchety old man wearing pajamas, fuzzy pink slippers and huge thick glasses that could easily attract a school of barracuda. The entire city of Atlanta was swarming with uniformed officials looking f or two of the most precious treasures that Atlanta had. Leela joined them in the search and while they were looking for the Professor, Umbriel and Fry had a talk inside the station. Umbriel said,

"Listen Fry, I want to apologize for the way I talked to you before. It wasn't your fault that that maniac stabbed me, and you honored my family and me by bringing me home. For that, I'm eternally grateful. However when the police find that old man, I think it would be best if you went back with Miss Leela."

"Umbriel, why are you saying this? Why do you want me to leave?"

"I don't, hon, and that's what is making this so hard. I love you, but it's painfully obvious that you still have feelings f or Leela. It's her who you need to be with, not me."

"Umbriel…."

She held a finger to his lips and said,

"Shhh. Look into your heart, sugar. You know that it's her that you really love, and it's not fair f or me to keep you from her."

Fry felt his heart break in two and rejoice at the same time. He pulled the small box from the pocket of his jacket and opened it. He gazed at the ring that was meant for Leela and thought to himself,

"_She's right. I am in love with Leela. I always have been_."

Then he looked down at his body and said,

"What have I done? What if they don't find the Professor? I can never go back to being human, and I can never be with her again."

Umbriel draped an encouraging arm across his shoulders and pulled him close. She said,

"They'll find him, darlin', and when they do we'll get you back to the way you're supposed to be. The Atlantian police force has some of the finest merfolk ever recruited and they have never failed to catch a criminal."

Umbriel's words reassured him and he asked,

"What are we supposed to do, then? We can't just sit here and wait."

"You don't have to," said a voice.

The two merpeople turned around and saw the Profess or being escorted by Leela and two police officials. One of the officials said in a gruff voice,

"We found him hiding in the seaweed fields. He tried to run, but we caught him."

Umbriel approached the old man and asked in am intimidating voice,

"All right, where did you put the pearls?"

"Pearls? What pearls?"

Fry approached the Professor, gave him a scrutinizing look and said,

"Hey wait a minute, something's not right here."

"What are you talking about, you nincompoop?"

Fry grabbed the Professor's head and ripped off a mask fashioned to look just like the old man. The person under the mask was none other than Bender.

"BENDER? What are you doing here? Where's the Professor?"

"Eh, probably still in the closet where I left him."

"You stuffed the Professor in the closet? When did you do that?"

"When Leela jumped out the window with you, I knocked out the old man and all those science nerds, stuffed them in the closet and put on my Halloween costume."

"Wait, you were gonna go as the Professor for Halloween? Why?"

"What? He makes a good costume."

Umbriel interrupted and demanded,

"Enough of this! Where did you put those pearls, Mr. Bender?"

"Pfft, like I'd tell you, fish-face."

Fry opened Bender's chest cavity and the two glowing semi-precious stones fell forward onto the floor. Umbriel picked them up, turned to Fry and Leela and said,

"Let's get these back to where they belong."

The police officials threw Bender into a cell as the Fry, Leela and Umbriel departed. The three of them made it back to Umbriel's house and once they made it inside, Umbriel placed one of the pearls back in its place in the cellar. The other she brought to Fry. She said,

"You know what to do with this don't you?"

"Yeah, I do, but first there's a question I have to ask Leela."

"Who? Me?"

"Yes you. Leela, I love you. I've always loved you and it took making a foolish decision f or me to realize that."

He set down the pearl and pulled the box out of his pocket. He knelt down as best he could since he still had a tail, brought for the ring and he said,

"Leela, I can't live without you in my life. Will you marry me?"

"Oh Fry!…..I"

The look on his face was utterly disarming and in a split second, Leela saw that with him there would be no loneliness any longer with the merman in front of her. Here was the one who would never abandon her or treat her like a freak. It was this person alone that she saw happiness and love. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, took the ring from him, slipped it on her finger and said with a few tears in her voice,

"I will."

Umbriel looked on approvingly and just then Umbriel's father swam in. He said,

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle. They finally did it."

"Oh, daddy! How are you feelin'," asked Umbriel.

"Well, I've still got a bit of a headache, but I'll survive. In the meantime, don't you have a wish to make, boy?"

"Oh yeah. I guess I do. Magic wishing pearl, I wish…..um….."

He stopped. Leela and Umbriel asked,

"What's wrong?"

"Well, it's just that…..I've kind of enjoyed being like this. Having superpowers, I mean. It's really cool! I don't really want to give that up."

Leela looked at him sympathetically. She sighed and turned to Umbriel and asked,

"How many wishes can that pearl grant?"

"We're not entirely sure, sug. It's anybody's guess."

Leela looked down and steeled herself. She went over to Fry and said,

"Let's get to the surface of the ocean and on to dry land. I have a wish to make too."

"Fry, Umbriel and Umbriel's father looked at her questioningly, but they did as she asked. Her father stayed behind while Umbriel led the couple to the small beach where she had placed Fry when he had tried to end his life. When they had come to rest on the land, Umbriel asked,

"All right then, Miss Leela, I must admit that my curiosity is peaked. What did you want to wish for?"

Leela took the pearl in her hands and said to Fry,

"This is my wedding gift to you to show you that I will never reject you again."

She looked at the glowing stone in her hands and said,

"I wish for Fry and me to be human on land and merfolk in the ocean."

Fry and Umbriel looked dumbfounded at that wish, but it was done. The pearl glowed and enveloped Leela and Fry in its pale silver light. When the light was gone, Fry was human again kneeling next to his fiancé. He said,

"Leela, you didn't have to do that."

She replied,

"I've been too selfish too long with your feelings, Fry. I don't blame you for not wanting to give up the ability to breathe underwater. Besides, I hear that they used to have great casinos in Atlanta. Is that still true, Umbriel?

"Why, yes it is. In fact it's one of our main exports. Sea creatures come from miles around just to take a swing at the gambling tables."

Leela turned to Fry and said,

"Let's go home. Besides, we have to rescue the Professor from the closet."

"What about Bender?"

Leela sighed and said,

"We should…probably bail him out. Again."

"You stay here, you two. I'll be back shortly," said Umbriel, "If someone finds you before I get back, just go with them. Whatever you do, don't go in the water."

The three of them shared a brief smile of understanding, and Umbriel disappeared beneath the waves. She made their way back to the Atlantian prison and when she got there, she was surprised to see not only the thieving robot, but Zapp Brannigan as well. She went to the prison guard and asked,

"Um….excuse me, but why is that guy in there?"

"Who? The one in the red shirt?"

"Yeah."

"He is here under harassment charges of a few of the local mergirls here."

Brannigan cried out,

"You have to get me out of here! Do you know what they'd do to me in prison?"

Umbriel went over to him and demanded,

"Why exactly should I convince them to let you out? You chased Fry relentlessly, had him strapped to a board and nearly dissected, and because of you my father was hurt quite badly."

"Please, Miss ...um….. Mermaid! I'm the Captain of a starship up on land; they'll be missing me if I don't get back!"

"Yeah, and I'm innocent! I was framed! The Professor ….no Amy…no Zoidberg made me do it! I was framed I tell ya!" pleaded Bender.

Umbriel angrily approached the cells that held Bender and Brannigan. She said to the guard,

"Let these jackasses out." Then she spoke to them, "From now on, you two are no longer welcome in Atlanta, and if you are seen here again we will make sure that you are kept out. Guard, will you please help me escort this….erm…. man and this metal person to the surface?"

"With pleasure, milady."

The guard and Umbriel took the sulking, overweight starship captain and Bender to the small island where Leela and Fry were waiting. Umbriel said to the couple,

"Thank you f or helping recover Atlanta 's and my family's treasure. You two are welcome back anytime."

"Speaking of which," said Leela, "Here's your pearl back. It's still glowing so it must still a have a few wishes left in it."

Umbriel took the opaque stone and said,

"Thank you, Miss Leela. I and Atlanta am eternally grateful to you."

They shared a smile and Umbriel disappeared beneath the waves with her treasure. Then Leela turned to Brannigan and said,

"You had better call the Nimbus to drop us back off at Planet Express."

"And if I refuse?"

Leela flashed him a look that would have withered an ear of corn, and she did what she had wanted to do ever since she had first met this pompous ass: she delivered a well-aimed kick to a certain, ahem, area and it was that action that 'persuaded' Brannigan to call his ship to their location. They boarded the ship once they were on board Brannigan approached Leela and said,

"Well…now that that unfortunate bit of unpleasantry is out of the way; perhaps we could get back to our previous discussion."

Leela turned around and said,

"All right, look Zapp; I've put up with your foolishness for long enough! I'm engaged now, so paws off!"

"What! You're engaged? To who?"

Fry popped up and said,

"Yo."

"To him? Bu...bu…but he's so….childish!"

Leela flipped her hair and said,

"Deal with it, Brannigan."

Brannigan got a downcast look on his face and he said,

"V…very well. I suppose that…I wish you two all the best of luck and, (his lip started quivering) and I know you'll be very happy."

He departed the small space with as much decorum as he could muster and when the door had slid shut behind him, Leela said,

"Finally! At least he didn't…."

From behind the door came the sound of gut-wrenching sobs and the most disgraceful boo-hooing that one had ever heard.

"…cry," Leela finished.

"Oh well," said Fry, "By the way, thanks for punching that dude's lights out."

"I've been wanting to do that ever since I met him."

Then Bender had to open his mouth and retort,

"I thought the first thing you wanted to do when you met him was sleep with him. WHHHOOOOO!"

Leela got up from where she was sitting and went over to Bender. He cowered in fear and stammered,

"W…what are you gonna do?"

Leela didn't answer. She merely unscrewed his arms and head, tied the arms around the head and threw the whole knotty mess into his chest cavity. From inside the hollow space Fry heard,

"Ou purple frek! I'm gona get ou or ths!"

Leela ignored the muffled threats coming from Bender and sat by her fiancé. Soon they landed at Planet Express and Fry, Leela and Bender (who was still trying to unravel himself) stepped into the building. Brannigan took off leaving them alone for the time being. Leela and Fry searched every closet in the building until they found every single one of the scientists that Bender had managed to bind and gag. Fry found the Professor and once he managed to untie him, the Professor got out,

"Fry! What happened you?"

"I'm back, Professor. I'm back and I'm human again."

"So…. no Nobel Prize?"

"I'm sorry, but I sure could use my old job back."

"Eh, wha? You're old job? Whatever happened that you couldn't do it in the first place?"

"Don't you remember, Professor?"

"Remember what?"

Fry and Leela looked at each other and shrugged. Then Fry said,

"All I need is my old career chip back."

"Oh very well. Hermes!"

Hermes strode in and said,

"Yes Professor? What do you wa…aa…uh…what is HE doin' here?"

He pointed very decidedly at Fry. The Professor replied,

"He's come for his old job back, although I don't know why in the blazes he lost it in the first place."

"Professor, I don't tink dat's a very good idea."

"Oh, balderdash, Hermes! He just pulled me out of the closet where some maniacal robot trapped me."

"You mean Bender?"

"Who?"

"Oh, forget it!"

Hermes threw up his hands, exasperated, and put Fry's career chip back in his hand.

Then Fry made the announcement,

"Oh, I've got news, everyone! Me and Leela are engaged!"

In spite of the awful torture that they had just endured, all the scientists surrounded them with hearty congratulations, and Bender finally managed to untangle himself and offer his congratulations, although it was rather curt. A few short months later, a seaside wedding was held. Leela wore a figure-flattering white sheath dress and Fry wore dashing navy blue tuxedo, and the whole event was witnessed by all their friends from Planet Express, Achunman from the planet of Mythos 3, the Harlem Globetrotters, a few of the Amazonian women, Lrrr and Ndnd from the planet Omicron Persei 8, the robot mafia and some other assorted inhabitants from other planets that they had encountered on their travels. The vows were spoken, the cake was cut, (Lrrr ate most of it much to the chagrin of Ndnd) and Zoidberg offered a rather…. unusual toast where he mentioned something about them being blessed with many happy squids and that their table would be graced with lots of seaweed. After the toast was over the entire wedding party was looking at each other not knowing how to respond, so they offered a hearty,

"Here, here?"

After the festivities were over, Fry and Leela took off in their limousine towards the transportation tube that took them to a secluded island hotel on the seaside that they had booked for the next two weeks. They checked in and stayed in their room for the rest of the day. Whenever nighttime rolled around, Fry took Leela to the ocean at midnight. The beach was completely empty for miles around. He took her hands and asked,

"Are you ready for this?"

She kissed him tenderly and said,

"Lead the way. I fully and completely trust you."

Fry led her towards the brink of the ocean and picked up his bride, and he stepped into the ocean. The minute his feet touched the water the transformation began. He fell to his knees nearly dropping Leela, but she held tight to him. She placed her feet in the brackish water and saw her feet and legs bind and become more flexible than ever before. After a moment, in the shallows sat two merpeople; one with a coppery colored tail and one with a shimmering tail of violet scales that glimmered like stars. Fry looked admiringly at her and said,

"Thank you for making this wish for me, Leela."

She replied,

"I guess every girl wants to be a mermaid at some point or another. I get to live the dream of thousands of little girls every where."

They smiled at each other and kissed a long, deep kiss that only comes from true love. Fry thought back to Umbriel and he thought to himself,

"_Thank you, Umbriel, for making this dream come true for me_."

The two merpeople made a beeline for Atlanta to have a go at the gambling tables. After all, they say that the nightlife in Atlantic City is the best time that you can have outside of Vegas. The entire way there, Leela allowed Fry to show her how to use her tail, which was one of the few things that she had ever allowed someone to help her with before. Slowly, through that swim, Fry was helping Leela dissolve that tough shell that she had created around herself. She finally surrendered her heart to him and it felt good to know that it was in the hands of someone that she could trust.


	9. Chapter 9

Epilogue:

Fry and Leela had been married for about six months and were now on a sabbatical from work. They were at the Atlantian Gold Room shooting some dice with a few of their friends. They took a break and Fry went off with a few of the guys while Leela and Umbriel stayed behind. Umbriel approached Leela and said,

"By the way, Mrs. Leela, I never got a chance to ask you why you rejected Fry's proposal in the first place."

"Leela considered and replied,

"I suppose that I wasn't looking at him the way that you were. You saw all of him while I only saw his flaws at the time. I suppose that I should thank you, really. I never would have realized just how precious he was to me if it hadn't been for you."

The two women smiled at each other and gave each other a toast with their vacuum-sealed glasses. Then Leela rejoined her husband and said,

"Come on, sweetie; let's go and have some fun."

"I thought we were having fun."

She smiled at him seductively and flicked her tail on his bottom lip erotically. Fry got the picture and followed his bride to the surface where they quickly changed back into humans and headed back to the Robot Arms Apartments.

* * *

**A/N**: I want to thank all of my readers who stuck with me on this little fic. Thank you for all of those who did review, and to those who didn't. I know you read the story and that is enough for me. I wanted to mention that this particular story has gotten the most reviews out of all of the storys on my page, and that is pretty cool, and because of this I now have a poll up regarding a sequel that i would like to write. Please vote, and thank you so much for all of your kind words, all the encouragement, and please keep the reviews coming. The story may be over, but I still value opinions and constructive criticism. Thank you once again.

Dr. C.M. Bloodred


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